Youth filmmakers to present their work at international awards ceremony

Valeria Cárdenas Santillan, 11, works with filmmaker Juan Castro Gessner during the 2013 Mexico workshop. Her video 'When I Dance, I Feel Big' is nominated in the (Self)-Portrait category.

Around the world, young people have been making one-minute videos
in UNICEF-hosted OneMinutesJr. workshops. Eager to express
themselves, youth participants share their viewpoints on subjects
such as disabilities, juvenile justice, violence, their future
and their lives. Now, 15 of these youth filmmakers are nominees
for the 2013 OneMinutesJr. Awards and have been invited to
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to present their videos at the
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

Fifteen out of 315 eligible videos were selected to compete in
the annual OneMinutesJr. Awards, hosted by UNICEF and the One
Minutes Foundation. Videos from workshops held in the past 12
months were eligible, as well as individual entries. All videos
were made by youth filmmakers under the age of 20.

There are five nominated films for each of three categories:
(Self)-Portrait, Inside-Out and One Minute of Freedom. The
finalists were selected by Leonard Retel Helmrich (filmmaker),
Hong-An Truong (artist and art professor) and Marije Veenstra
(educational producer, IDFA). The nominated filmmakers come from
Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Georgia, Libya,
Mexico, Pakistan, Ukraine and Viet Nam – and will represent those
countries in Amsterdam.

The 2013 awards events will be held 28–30 November, in
conjunction with IDFA, one of the world’s leading documentary
film festivals. The festival will screen the nominated films as
part of their DOC U program. All of the nominees will participate
in a OneMinutesJr. Masterclass, at which professional filmmakers
will work with them to make an additional one-minute film.

There will also be a screening as part of IDFA’s education
programme, where the nominees will present their experiences and
share their backgrounds with Dutch youth. This additional
screening will present a unique opportunity for cultural
exchange, considering the diverse and unique backgrounds of the
nominees.

For instance, Valeria Cárdenas Santillan (11, Mexico), Nguyễn
Quang Minh and Diệp Gia Bảo (both 19, Viet Nam) are children with
disabilities. Their films celebrate the ability to do things not
considered possible in their circumstances.

Oksana (18), Nastja (18) and Lida (17) made their films during a
workshop held at the Melitopol Detention Facility for Girls in
Ukraine. The workshop theme – juvenile justice –allowed them to
visualize the pain and struggles associated with their life
choices.

Džejlan Sefić (14), Ivana Šušnjar and Matej Tokić (14) (Bosnia
and Herzegovina) made videos stressing the importance of social
inclusion. The three youth were part of workshops within the
Strengthening the Social Protection and Inclusion System
Programme (SPIS), designed to enhance the social protection
policy and inclusion of children and their families. (Read more
about the workshops here.)

Andrei Gasnash (15) lives in a home for former street children in
Odessa, Ukraine. His film focuses on moving forward with his
life. He is also one of the main characters of a UNICEF
Netherlands project, ‘meanwhile in Odessa’.

Nana Garsevanishvili (16, Georgia), Rubik Harunyan (10, Armenia),
Chhun Sopheaktra (14, Cambodia) and Ghada Yousri Benyaala (17,
Libya) all made films that focus on challenges in either their
lives or society, while Hamza Iftikhar (17, Pakistan) chose to
celebrate the city he loves, Lahore.

The Awards experience in Amsterdam will be an adventure for all
of these youth, considering most of them have not travelled
outside their country. Not only will they get to see the world,
but also share their world with others.

The films nominated for (Self)-Portrait are ‘Cuando Bailo, Me Siento
Grande (When I Dance, I Feel Big)’ by Valeria Cárdenas Santillan,
‘Around Lahore in 60 Seconds’ by Hamza Iftikhar, ‘Life in My
Hands’ by Lida, ‘Our Home’ by Džejlan Sefić and ‘My Way’ by Ivana
Šušnjar. The films nominated for Inside-Out are ‘What Do you Hear’ by Diệp Gia
Bảo, ‘Hold Me’ by Nastja, ‘Looking Ahead’ by Andrei Gasnash,
‘Farewell!’ by Matej Tokić and ‘There are No Monsters Under the
Bed’ by Nana Garsevanishvili. The films nominated for One Minute of Freedom are ‘Breaking Away’ by
Nguyễn Quang Minh, ‘My Challenge’ by Ghada Yousri Benyaala,
‘Liquid Changes Life’ by Chhun Sopheaktra, ‘Ran out of Time’ by
Oksana and ‘Mudslide’ by Rubik Harunyan.